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<title>A Harsh Legacy (Linked Universe) by K_the_Solemn_Artist</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23273533">A Harsh Legacy (Linked Universe)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/K_the_Solemn_Artist/pseuds/K_the_Solemn_Artist'>K_the_Solemn_Artist</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Linked Universe - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 08:29:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,602</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23273533</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/K_the_Solemn_Artist/pseuds/K_the_Solemn_Artist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Twilight is unable to hold his frustration towards Sky and questions the man’s legacy he’d left behind.</p><p>Linked Universe belongs to Jojo56830 on Tumblr, go give them all the hearts!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Harsh Legacy (Linked Universe)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Twilight sat there watching the fire sputter to life, crackling and popping as the wood burned releasing a comfortable warmth for the weary travelers. His eyes had wandered to the Skyloftian a couple of times that day, yet neither seemed to approach one another for a reason why. The two sat by the fire, Sky carving a wooden being called a Korok or something for Wild and Wind whilst Twilight focused on kindling. Everyone else sat further away from the two, with Time and Warriors preparing to scout the land. Despite their best efforts Twilight could hear the youngest of the pack mutter, “Why can’t we just make them talk to each other again?”<br/>
“Because that’s not how healthy conversations start!” Time silenced the both of them, telling Wind to tag along with Wild (under the supervision of Four) to go provision hunting, Legend had already made his way to town with Hyrule in tow and Warriors sat by the brush waiting for Time to begin scouting the deeper areas they hadn’t gone to yet.<br/>
As Wild and Wind’s silhouettes fully merged with the ever-present green, Twilight found his body already moving towards Time… towards his predecessor. Despite the two of them meeting and validating one another in who they were to each other, Twilight couldn’t help but feel as though he still didn’t understand him… and how could that be? In truth this hadn’t been their first meeting; by all accounts Twilight had met Time during his ‘adventure’ in home-world, in twilight. Stopping short of the ‘old’ man Twilight found words tumbling out of him, “If you guys are going scouting I can come alo-”<br/>
</p><p>|</p><p>“That won’t be necessary, someone should stay back with Sky… just in case, besides; Epona looks like she could use a good brushing after the storm we traversed yesterday.” Twilight sucked his breath in, he really hadn’t hoped they were trying to do this to the two of them… to force a confrontation between him and Sky. “If that’s what you think is the best choice to make, I won’t argue with you…” Time could feel the radiating anger coming from Twilight, however this was necessary that the two get their frustrations out in the open and to try and mend each other’s issues with each other. Coming back to the fire, Twilight felt himself unable to look towards the other hero as he clunkily threw a log onto the fire.<br/>
All that could be heard was the tending of the fire and the sound of Sky’s knife carving away at the wood in his hands. Neither of them had even passed a looking glance at one another, rather choosing to focus themselves on what was in front of them. “Say, may I ask you something Twilight?” Sky had stopped what he was doing to finally look to the wolf coat bearing boy. “What do you want?” Twilight had almost covered his mouth at the tone he had used, the slight flinch in Sky’s motion didn’t help how Twi had felt. Trying to apologize, Twilight found that Sky had beat him to it, “Sorry to bother you, I just wanted to know why you’ve been acting upset towards me… I hope I didn’t say anything to bother you.” His eyebrows were creased in worry, Twilight sighed a heavy warm breath, “No, no you didn’t say anything to bother me…”<br/>
“Oh thank Hylia, I thought I had accidentally called you-”<br/>
“No, my problem lies within what you left behind…” his eyes had flung open at what spilled out of his mouth, by the time his hand had clamped his mouth shut it was too late.<br/>
Glancing to Sky the small smile he had fully shattered, his lips tugged downwards in what Twilight could only assume be a frown. “I’m sorry?”<br/>
Everything that he had been bottling up began pouring out of him, “Sorry? Sorry is the only thing you have to say to the mess you left for others to clean up for you!?” Sky looked surprised if only for a moment before looking to the ground in shame, “Don’t you have anything to say for yourself!? Anything to say to someone who’s bloodline was cursed because of you!?” He felt his body moving on it’s own, he felt a rush of energy as he forcefully shoved Sky towards a tree, the latter allowing him to do so without resistance. “I met him you know…” Sky’s eyes flickered in confusion at Twilight’s words and found himself mumbling the word that Twi himself had uttered, “Him?”<br/>
“The Hero of Time… who else could I be referring to!” His voice came out as a low growl that if Sky and the other’s hadn’t seen and heard before would’ve mistaken it coming from a wolf or wild beast. Sky felt his breath hitch in his throat yet found the courage to ask for elaboration, ‘Twi has met his ancestor, of course he has, mostly everyone’s had to have met one another by now!’<br/>
</p><p>|</p><p>“Twilight what do you mean you’ve met Time… you can’t mean that you’ve met him bef-”<br/>
“I did as a matter of fact… I met his spirit that had left itself in disarray, a shambling mass of bones that held nothing but regret close to their heart, the trouble they had gone through not yielding them the praise they felt deserved…” Sky felt his throat become dry, “You know, I said that I found her beautiful, a shining light in darkness for me... yet whenever I think back to that revenant all that comes to mind is a thought,” Twilight’s voice had reached almost peak volume as he placed a hand on the trunk, towering over Sky who simply stood there leaning against the base listening to everything Twi had spoken.<br/>
He’d wished he hadn’t paid keen attention to what Twilight was saying as the words trembled from him quietly like a pleading question he needed answered, “Where was she to guide him through that impending darkness?” Sky stood there, dumbfounded letting the words sink in. ‘Fi had been there for him when he was constantly lost, she had comforted him about his Zelda and how they’d be able to save her and the day… she had reaffirmed his confidence when he felt unworthy to be called the Hero of Skyloft… but what about Time? Had the Master Sword really treated him so vastly different that it led to him feeling lost and mistreated? To be left feeling not as a hero but a second rate fable? Like how he had even-’ A hand had been placed on his shoulder, halting Sky from his thoughts.<br/>
Looking up his eyes were met with a panicking Twilight, who seemed to have regret etched heavily on his features. Barely making out what he was saying Sky picked up on vocal cues and gestures Twi had been making. Brushing his hand against his cheek he felt the warm substance that had found itself trickling down at a rather fast pace. The Ordonian opened his mouth to speak once more but stopped as he heard Sky almost inaudibly mutter, “Sorry…” looking Twilight in the eyes he offered a sad broken smile as tears blurred his vision. “I’m sorry, I truly did fail all of you… haven’t I? I thought that I had defeated Demise and that would’ve been all there was to it…. That the generations to come wouldn’t have to suffer and yet-!”<br/>
“-Please, you must stop! What I had said was out of turn!” Twilight had grabbed both of Sky’s shoulders in an attempt to stop the Skyloftian from stumbling over, his knees clearly having lost all sense of gravity. “Sky! Are you okay!?”<br/>
“What you had said was something you needed to get off your chest… I do not blame you for hating me, I had caused great harm to the family tree you and Time belong to as well as damage to the many others…” Twilight felt his mouth thin as he thought, ‘Unfair… what I am saying to him is unfair. He was one of the first of us to suffer and yet here I am trying to hurt someone who fought before me, who protected me like he had…’<br/>
Easing the Skyloftian onto the log that stood by the fire that had almost begun dwindling, Twilight quickly tended to the fire before crouching down near Sky, looking as the man simply stared at the glow of the burning wood. “I mean it…”<br/>
</p><p>|</p><p>“What?” Sky had looked up to Twilight, who was now the one staring absentmindedly at the ground, “I really am sorry for what I’ve said… Sky, you’re a savior of your realm, a hero remembered as Link and a bearer of the Spirit of the Hero… you were one of the first so if anything I should be thanking you instead of chiding you for what you couldn’t have helped.” Sky looked at Twilight, the life in his eyes seemingly returning at the Hero of Twilight’s words. “I just… I guess my anger simply got the better of me…”<br/>
“You are well justified in those feelings, your ancestor was left wandering the realm as an unfulfilled spirit… no one should have to learn of such heritage that way…”<br/>
“Yes well I suppose such things are common place for heroes such as us!” The two passed hearty chuckles to one another, the tense atmosphere had finally left both of their bodies allowing them to breathe the semi-damp air as night had finally come. “I must admit I am a little surprised that you’ve met Time…”<br/>
“I wouldn’t quite say that…” Sky looked at Twilight in confusion, the whole blowout he just had was centered around the remnant of a man everyone in their group seemingly looked up to. “And why’s that?”<br/>
“The old man we have now with us… he’s nothing like the lost soul that chose to guide me in the way of the sword… well, I guess he still does that now…” Sky laughed at that with smiling eyes, “That spirit, did he ever find peace?” Twilight looked at him and smiled lightly, “I really like to think that he did, all he wanted was to teach his family and to be remembered... “<br/>
“Well, it sounds as though he got both of those wishes.”<br/>
“Yeah, I suppose he did…” Twilight had found himself finally combing Epona’s mane, who finally was pleased to have been getting attention from her partner. “I think my mistake in all of this… was to have ever compared the two as the same person.” Sky heard Twilight speak from behind him as he kindled the fire. “Well, they are the same person, if we’re to be technical about it.”<br/>
“Then let’s not.” laughter erupted from the both of them again as Twilight finished grooming Epona’s hair already<br/>
Patting Epona Twilight stared at the design on the Skyloftian’s cloth adorned as a cape, smiling he decided to return the kindness that had been given to him. Sitting down next to Sky on the log, Twilight’s finger caressed the item he had in his pocket. Catching the attention of Sky, who gazed at him with curiosity, Twilight pulled from his pocket a strand of grass. Confusion swept Sky’s face for only a moment until he began to hear what he could only describe as music coming from it as Twilight whistled. Afterwards he sat there, staring at the grass in his hand before looking to Sky, sheepishly smiling he stated, “Thought I could pay you back for all those time you’ve played for us… it’s no harp but-”<br/>
</p><p>|</p><p>“Twi that was amazing, thank you for sharing that melody!” The two shared a smile for a brief moment before Twilight let out a hearty laugh that topped every other laugh that day thus far, Sky smiled meekly as he tried to understand what had been found as hilarious, he watched Twi turn to the bushes, “You know, you can announce yourselves now, I knew you guys came back around the time I started playing…” Silence had been heard for only a moment before two people arguing became apparent, “Wha-OW stop pushing-STOP PUSHING!” Wind came tumbling forward as Legend strode from behind. Hyrule and Wild came barreling from above as Four appeared from behind a tree. “And how long have all of you been here!?” Sky seemed flabbergasted that so many of them were around. “Oh you know… since Twi decided to play music with grass.”<br/>
“I’ll have you know that it is an efficient way to call for Epona!” Twilight stared at Legend as he sat down by the fire, carelessly chucking another piece of wood while Wild pipped up. “Oh, hey Twi, Wind, Four and I found some more firewood while we were out foraging!”<br/>
“Turns out this place is pretty bountiful!”<br/>
“Anything found in the forest can be used for something, you just have to know how.” Four sat down as Wind gave him one of his strange faces again, honestly that boy was so expressive and it amazed Sky and Twilight how he wasn’t hurting himself from pulling that off. The brush rustled a little leaving everyone resting their hands on their scabbards yet all that appeared were two heavily clad familiar faces. “Oh, Time and Wars are back!” Wind exclaimed running over to the two of them to ask about scouting.<br/>
Twilight and Sky exchanged glances as Twi went over to Time who had beckoned him over with a simple head nod. The two whisked themselves away a seldom few feet away from the camp so as to ensure no eavesdroppers would get any funny ideas… not like any would try with Time being one of the speakers. “So little cub, how did your conversation go?”<br/>
</p><p>|</p><p>Twilight smiled that small smile Time had become familiar with whenever he was embarrassed to admit to something, “Well, we definitely mended that bridge, if that’s what you’re asking!” Time only lightly smiled at Twilight’s gestures, he had definitely loosened up more compared to before. The same could be said about Sky, he seemed more focused even as he carved away the Korok figurine with Wind and Wild watching in awe, but more at the fact that he carved with a smile and conversation as he began telling them about a creature the Korok reminded him of. “We should probably head back to them before they think we’re planning something.”<br/>
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…”<br/>
“They may call you old man, but they still know you have that mischievous side to you.”<br/>
“Hamph! Still don’t know what you’re talking about! But you’re right, we should get back before the darkness draws something in.” The two headed towards the fire that had begun wafting a pleasant fragrance thanks to the Hero of the Wild. Twilight passed a glance to Time as did Sky, and for a moment, it was as if their thoughts had synched, ‘He isn’t that spirit, because he has heart, pride yet acceptance… he bears his adventures as a close-guarded secret… he wants to forget… and who are we to stop him?’</p><p>|</p><p>Because even though they both spoke of the same man who hailed from a different background wielding that which they all bared, the harsh legacy imprinted onto them all... regardless of whether it be the same person, no matter the time, the namesake or title… they're not one and the same, for there will also be a part of a hero that lingers… that will always be; the Hero’s Shade.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm not gonna lie, tbh I don't know how I feel about this, I hope I did the boys some justice...<br/>Also i give massive thanks to a wonderful friend of mine from a Discord server, we'll call them Rose for now! Thank you so much for giving me the prompt here, I hope you had fun reading it and the same goes to all of you!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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